Alexander Bürkle – Smart and sustainable: survey on home appliance trends

Sustainable, comfortable and intelligent

Smart technology is crucial for 34 percent

In a comprehensive Europe-wide survey, BSH Hausgeräte asked almost 13,000 people aged 18 and over to understand their expectations of kitchen appliances and large electrical appliances.

BSH Hausgeräte GmbH had a clear desire to gain more clarity and commissioned the market research institute YouGov in March to carry out an online survey in 12 European countries. Just over 1,000 people were interviewed in each country, and a total of 12,903 people took part in this survey.

One result of the survey is that for 34 percent of the participants, the connectivity of their next large household appliance is of great importance. An impressive 44 percent of respondents would even be willing to pay a premium for it. These findings confirm BSH’s conviction that the kitchen of the future will be highly networked.

The results from Poland and Slovenia are particularly interesting. In both countries, two-thirds of those surveyed already have at least one intelligent home appliance – compared to only one-third in Germany. The most common connected device category is the washing machine, used by around one in five (22 percent) respondents across countries. This is followed at a slight distance by the smart oven (17 percent), the fridge and freezer (16 percent), the dishwasher (15 percent) and the hob (14 percent).

The functions of their smart devices satisfy three quarters of those surveyed. About 50 percent said they were fairly satisfied, while another 25 percent were completely satisfied. Spain achieves the highest satisfaction rate with a total of 87 percent.
 

Environmental friendliness is crucial when choosing a device

Awareness of the environment plays a crucial role in the selection of home appliances in all countries. Factors such as energy and water consumption, service life and sustainable production and materials are taken into account. BSH relies on two approaches to sustainability: firstly, on production with ambitious recycling targets and the increased use of alternative materials such as green steel; secondly, on device functions that reduce the ecological impact of networking.

These efforts are recognized as added value. The optimization of resource consumption in smart dishwashers is particularly popular in Italy, Spain and Poland. About two-thirds of users in these countries use this feature. In Germany it is still 43 percent. Interestingly, six out of ten German respondents who do not own a smart dishwasher said they would use this feature if it were available.

Household appliances are designed to make everyday life easier

In addition to sustainability, comfort plays an important role. The idea of ​​the additional convenience that smart home appliances can offer in everyday life is already firmly established in some areas. For 40 percent of users of intelligent home appliances, convenience was a decisive factor when making a purchase. Customizable use is particularly popular: seven out of ten respondents stated that individual setting options are important to them when buying a new household appliance. Although smart ovens are not yet widespread in European homes, three-quarters of respondents would like to use such a feature – such as turning off the oven automatically when the meal is ready.

Harald Friedrich, Head of Sales Central and Eastern Europe at BSH, emphasized: “BSH’s aim is to enrich people’s domestic lives with first-class brands, high-quality products and innovative solutions. In order to live up to this claim, it is important to be close to our target groups. We need to understand how they use devices and features and their individual needs and desires. The survey results show the direction in which the kitchen of the future will develop and confirm BSH’s strategy.”